i386

English

Etymology

Contraction.

Proper noun

i386

1. (computing) The Intel 80386 (i386) processor.
   1. The 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, first used on this model of processor (earlier x86 processors used the 16-bit version of the x86 architecture).

      Some Linux distros have stopped releasing i386 versions of their releases, given that practically everybody now uses devices with 64-bit-capable processors.

Usage notes

When referring to the 32-bit x86 architecture, i386 is used almost exclusively in the context of Unix and Linux operating systems; Windows systems call this architecture simply x86, and system-agnostic discussions tend to use x86, IA-32, or (occasionally) x86-32.

Synonyms

(the processor):

• 386

(the 32-bit x86 architecture):

• IA-32
• x86 (in the narrow, 32-bit-only sense)
• x86-32

Hypernyms

• x86 (in the broad sense)

Coordinate terms

• x86-16 (16-bit x86)
• AMD64, x64, x86-64 (64-bit x86)